This story is a part of Lit Mag: The REDEFINED issue.
For the past few weeks, I have been giving people compliments and filming their reactions for Snapchat. This was a really dumb idea. You would think going up to people and talking to them would be easy. It’s not. I hear so much stuff in the media about dieting, thinning pills and the unrealistic body standards that celebrities uphold. These body and beauty expectations weigh on us so much we actually cave into them. We take the pill, we starve ourselves, we do steroids. We do all these things until we meet the expectation and once we do there’s another one around the corner with all these body and beauty expectations surrounding on us I thought wouldn’t it be great to tell people what is beautiful about them or what makes them special.
When I was younger I always struggled with accepting my body and always being able to find the flaws instead of the positive things. When I decided to do this I expected all the responses to be smiling and thank yous. That wasn’t the case for most of them. Some of the responses were awkward others were sweet. That’s what makes this experience so fun because everyone’s response is not the same.This experience has been very eye-opening for me. Not only has it allowed me to see the beauty in everyone but it’s also helped me love and accept the body that is mine.
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I am an artistic writer. I’ve always had a love for reading and writing. The more I wrote the more I enjoyed it. Writing expresses how I am feeling at the moment, it helps me relieve stress and makes me happy when I’m sad. I like to talk about current or past events that have an effect on our community. I want people to understand the importance of the event, I want them to feel the emotions that I am feeling.